Another Round (2020)

January 11, 2021 8:21 AM

Four friends, all high school teachers, test a theory that they will improve their lives by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood.

Brian Tallerico for RogerEbert.com:
"To varying degrees, all four men are going through what could be called a midlife crisis, dissatisfied by the mundanity of daily life as teachers, but it's Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) who is in the deepest funk. He has lost all passion for teaching his history class, feels distant from his family, and can’t find many reasons to get up. The social experiment breaks him out of his rut in a relatively predictable way, but Mikkelsen elevates what could have been another traditional message movie about living life to the fullest even after you think you’ve had your final drink."

posted by dnash (7 comments total)

I've not yet seen it, but this tweet put it at the top of my watch list:

"ANOTHER ROUND is so good that the only honorable move is to buy the rights to an American remake, then spike them so it never gets done"
posted by myotahapea at 10:51 PM on January 12, 2021 [6 favorites]

I haven't seen this yet, and am greatly looking forward to it, when I can find it, featuring as it does my imaginary boyfriend one of my favourite actors.

It did strike me initially that the basic story idea is very reminiscent of Mitchell and Webb's Inebriati sketch.
posted by Fuchsoid at 8:59 AM on January 14, 2021 [4 favorites]

It's currently an online rental, at least in the USA.

I watched it over the weekend and really loved it. It isn't really about the booze, and it's not some moralistic "drinking is bad, m'kay" sermon. It's really about four guys who realize they're in a rut, and seek to reinvigorate their lives. There are results both good and bad, because of course they take things too far. But sometimes a little crazy, a little letting loose, is just the thing that's needed. And I don't wanna spoil it, but the last scene knocked my breath away.

(If we're doing award shows this year, please please let Mads get one for this!)
posted by dnash at 11:23 AM on January 14, 2021

I'm super excited for this. I love Mads Mikkelsen, and I'm happy for him that he's had more mainstream US "success", but I have been hoping for him to go back to his Danish film roots. Mads's previous film with with Vinterberg, "The Hunt" was such an amazing work of art and performance - even if it remains an incredibly difficult film to watch.

I hadn't heard anything about this film prior to seeing the fanfare post. I guess i"ve been distracted as of late. But I will definitely be renting this ASAP.
posted by litera scripta manet at 11:46 AM on January 24, 2021

A good watch -- and odd. Not as funny as many critics implied. I spent the entire first hour miserably foretelling that they were going to rationalize their way into full-blown alcoholism. To the extent that that proves true, the movie does not dwell on it. In fact, it felt like the film circled back around to a defense of alcohol as the punctuation marks to mankind's highest and lowest moments. Not ideal for constant daily use, but helpful to ease anxiety, to celebrate, and to mourn. That said, the film is also pretty clear-eyed about the drunkenness. I did laugh at the way the film switched from presenting the main characters' POV that they were fairly successful at their experiment to the minor characters pointing out that everyone knew they'd been drunk for weeks. (Of course. You might occasionally luck into hiding drunkenness for a few minutes, but nobody can do it every day for a month.)

Mads Mikkelsen dances at that incredible final scene -- in interviews he says he is not really a dancer anymore, but I still think he's the most graceful actor (eh, 21 years in) of the 21st century.
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:44 PM on March 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

I saw this today. It's pretty straightforward. It has a couple clever moments, like I liked the dinner where Mads first proposes the canoe trip and there is a sudden spark between them, to like later in the same dinner where it seems like nothing more has been said and the spark is long cold and dead. The ending scene is surprising even though it's on the poster, and it's a nice little statement about optimism and passion.
posted by fleacircus at 3:48 PM on April 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Saw this last night and loved it. Mads and the entire cast is great. The director, Thomas Vinterberg, also made Festen, which I think one of the great movies of the last 50 years. Vinterberg also made The Hunt which is terrific and stars Mads. I am very surprised The Hunt wasn't remade in the US and would not be surprised if it and Another Round come to be.

My only real issue with this film is that the actors are supposed to be in their 40s and I just didn't buy that as they're all clearly older (Mads is 55). I thought it a strange choice.

I listened to numerous interviews with Vinterberg and was sad to hear that his daughter, Ida, had been killed 4 days into the film's production when her car was smashed by another driver who was texting. Apparently the kids in the film were based on stories she'd told her father about her peers and booze. Her death inspired a rewrite of the script to make it more hopeful. I'd be curious to know what was changed.
posted by dobbs at 8:44 AM on July 18, 2021